BSB: Byrne returns to winning ways as Haslam crashes out

Published: 01 May 2017Updated: 01 May 2017

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Shane Byrne returned to winning ways in the second MCE British Superbike race of the day at Oulton Park as series leader Leon Haslam dramatically crashed out after hitting the back of James Ellison’s stricken McAMS Yamaha.

Haslam took the holeshot as in race one, but it wasn’t long before a hard charging Jason O’Halloran and James Ellison passed the JG Speedfit Kawasaki as they looked to better their opening race results.

While O’Halloran would drop back a little, Ellison took the lead at Hizzy’s on the third lap and was able to remain out front until a strong move from Byrne into Lakeside on lap six.

Byrne would remain unchallenged for the rest of the race, but Ellison was never far behind. After getting beaten up in the early stages, Haslam started to push forward as the race reached two thirds distance and having just set the fastest lap of the race, he was right on Ellison’s tail when disaster struck.

A blown fuse on Ellison’s Yamaha saw his machine cut out at 150mph, leaving Haslam nowhere to go but hit the back of the stricken machine. While Haslam was lucky to avoid serious injury in the smash, his ZX-10RR was thrown across the other side of the armco barrier in numerous pieces.

With Haslam and Ellison out, it was a dogfight for the remaining podium spots with Glenn Irwin and Jason O’Halloran finishing second and third respectively. Christian Iddon just missed out on the rostrum in fourth, with Luke Mossey – who lost numerous positions avoiding the Haslam crash – fifth. Josh Brookes rounded out the top six.

Haslam’s DNF sees team-mate Mossey now just three points behind him in the title chase, while Byrne’s victory moves him up to just outside the top six, some 53 points behind Haslam.